Soulbound
by Voxifera
Summary: Ariadne (Ari) is Bella's best friend from Arizona who comes visit for the summer. Once September rolls by, Ari decides to stay to help Bella get over Edward leaving her, unaware of her supernatural situation. Jacob eventually imprints on her but she won't find out until her life is threatened by a war between wolves and vampires, with her best friend in between.
1. Chapter 1 Enter Ari

**Author's Note: So, this is my new story. I've noticed how so many Jacob/OC stories are about how Bella's sister hates Bella. Instead, this is Bella's best friend who loves her. The whole Jacob/OC relationship will be kind of slow, and maybe eventually in New Moon they'll get together. Music is going to be a center theme, too. Oh, I don't know why people need to put this, but I don't own Twilight or any of its characters, just my OC. I have quite a lot of it written, but I'll keep reviewing it as I post it. Rates and reviews are always welcomed, even if it's constructive criticism. Enjoy.**

 **Chapter 1. Enter Ari**

"Hi," she said cheerfully. She had just gotten into the parking lot, and had walked over to the group of people that were closest to the school's entrance. She was wearing some jeans with some rips, boots, a ruffled white longish top and leather jacket. Her curly hair was a light brown color and reached her chest.

She approached a big guy that had the built of a football player, and he was talking to a slightly smaller fellow with blond medium length hair. They didn't look very happy to see her. However, as soon as she had said the word, a petit shorthaired brunette popped out of nowhere to respond the greeting.

"Hi!" she responded, grabbing the girls arm and dragging her a bit away from the others.

"Hey, I love your dress," said the girl who had just gotten there. "Oh, thanks" the other girl replied with an almost exaggerated smile. "I'm looking for Bella Swan, do you know her?"

"Yeah, I think she's about to get out of school."

"Thanks," she smiled, and started to walk away but before she could, the brunette called to her, "I'm Alice, by the way, what's your name?" The other one backtracked the step she had just taken.

"Ariadne, Ari for short," she said with a friendly smile, then she paused, "Alice? You're Edward's sister, right?"

Alice nodded, "So you know Edward as well."

"No," Ari answered, "I've just heard of him, from Bella, you know. But I hope to meet him, she really likes him."

At that moment, Ari heard "Ari? Is that you?" It was Bella's voice. The joy in Ari's eyes twinkled when she turned around to see her best friend. "Bella! Oh my god! I've missed you so much!" She shouted excitedly, as they hugged each other.

"What are you doing here? I thought you had classes until next week."

"Oh, I did my tests early to come and surprise you, you know life in Arizona is painful without you."

"What about your graduation?"

"Eh… who cares about graduation, anyway? I'll just get the diploma in the mail, I don't really need the ceremony."

Bella turned to the handsome guy standing next to her, "Edward, this is Ariadne, she's my best friend from back home."

"Damn, Bella, you were not kidding about him being absolutely beautiful," Ari claimed looking straight at Bella. She turned quickly to Edward, "It's so nice to finally meet you, you have no idea how much Bella has told me about you." Edward bowed his head and smiled at the girl.

"Oh, by the way, Edward," she drew closer to him, "break her heart and I'll break your legs," her eyes glaring as best she could. The response was a simple chuckle, actually, a chuckle all around: Edward chuckled, Bella chuckled, the two boys from earlier, and Alice too. "Hey, I'm super serious."

"Stop it," scolded Bella still with half a chuckle and the remaining smile.

Bella turned to Edward, "Ari just finished school, she's like stupid smart so she skipped a grade."

"I see." He said while he flashed a smile.

"So… What's going on? Are you going to take me out and tell me all about your great adventures in the mighty Forks? How many forks have you actually seen here, enough to be worthy of the name?" Ari teased.

She had rolled her eyes a little over the silly joke, but it did amuse her.

"Uhm…" Bella hesitated, looking over at Edward, "Sure, you hungry?"

"I´m starving, are you coming, Edward?"

Edward rejected the invitation, he noticed that they needed to catch up.

So Bella and Ari went to a restaurant near the school.

"So…" Ari started, "you guys look adorable together! Are you happy?"

"Yeah… definitely." Bella didn't sound excited but she did look content, "I mean, Edward's great."

"That's wonderful, Bella, I'm super happy for you," exclaimed Ari.

"Yeah, what about you?"

"Well… You know how I broke up with Daniel a few months back? "Bella nodded.

They had spoken over the phone a few times, but it wasn't frequent. They had known each other since 2nd grade, when Ari moved to Arizona, but she had moved away before middle school and returned for high school. During those first years they were best friends, and when Ari came back, they sort of picked up the friendship again. Strange because they were completely different. The friendship sort of stuck, Ari would do most of the talking but she would always take an interest in what Bella was up to, so it kind of worked. Since Bella moved to Forks, they spoke whenever something big happened, breakups, birthdays, or in times of extreme boredom.

"I saw him, like three weeks ago, he was a total douche."

Ari told Bella how she had seen her ex at a party and blabbered on for a while.

"Anyway, so Bella, what else, was is this place really like? I can see that it's kinda gloomy, doesn't that bother you?"

"You get used to it."

"Really? Because I've been here only a few hours and already I feel depressed with these grey skies."

"It's really not so bad."

"Well, I guess you have a delicious boy at your side, even hell doesn't seem that bad, am I right?" Ari giggled.

Bella smiled, "I guess it helps… a lot."

"Ok, should I even ask? How serious is this, really? Have you guys… you know?"

"A, come on… we've been together for like three months…"

"Three months, you must have done something at least?" Bella shook her head and raised an eyebrow.

"Have you… kissed?" she rolled her eyes as she asked hoping that they had at least kissed.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it."

Ari looked a little surprised but glad and proud, "Alright then."

"It's just that… well, you know, I'm not like that and Edward… he's old fashion. We're just going slow."

"That's good, Bella," she sounded stern, "Don't let that boy near your chastity belt."

Bella laughed out loud, "Hey!"

Ari laughed too and said, "I'm just teasing, I think it's very romantic."

"Anyway…" Bella started, "How are the preparations for the concert?"

Ari sang in Bubblegum, a pop-dance band that she had started a couple years back. That's the other reason she was in Forks. She wanted to visit Bella and started researching about clubs where they could play. She had a concert deal with one of the dance clubs in Port Angeles, if it went well they could play a few more shows during the summer. This was in three weeks.

"Everything seems going smoothly, the band is coming down a few days before the show. I should go check the place out before that, though. See if everything is in order." She seemed excited about it.

"I hope you've been telling all your friends about it!" Ari continued, "The band is going to kill me if we play at a totally empty venue." Ari scowled at Bella.

"Eh… Yeah, I've… mentioned it."

Ari frowned and rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you! You've not said a peep, have you?"

"I'm sorry, I just…"

"It's fine, but you better help me put some posters up. But you are definitely coming, right? You and Edward have to come. Ooh, and Alice, I loved her."

Bella had seen the band before and it wasn't her sort of music, but she did want to support her friend.

"Yeah, of course," she didn't seem excited about it but smiled halfheartly anyway.

"It's going to be awe-some," Ari said in a sing-song way this last word.

They talked until late. Ari talked about her collage applications and updated her friend in all the new gossip from her old school. Bella told her about classes, the friends that she had made in school, even about Edward's family.

* * *

Ari was going to stay with Bella for the first week after her arrival, before she rented a place in town. She was staying the whole summer, and she couldn't impose herself on Bella's father like that. She had gotten a long with her mother, but she had never met her dad. She did spoke to him a few days before telling him that she was getting there a few days early, to surprise Bella on her last day of school. So she was able to leave her stuff at their place before heading to Bella's school.

During that first week, Ari was going to stay in Bella's room with her.

"So, Bella! Where are you going to take me? What's cool around here?"

"Uhm… I guess there's the actual town… Port Angels… The Reservation."

"Cool, let's go one by one. Tomorrow you could show me around the town, maybe I can meet your friends?"

Bella let out a groan, "Ok, I promise to take you on Tuesday, tomorrow I was going to see Edward."

"I'd like to hang out with you and him one of these days, but I can take care of myself tomorrow, so don't you worry," Ari looked up at Bella reassuringly, "Sound great."

Bella was relieved, she was happy that her friend had come down, but she missed Edward and really wanted to see him. Luckily, Ari understood completely, she was very independent. Even though she came to see Bella, she didn't need her by her side all day, every day. In fact… that would be awful, they'd probably get sick of each other and get in a huge fight. In any case, she liked walking around listening to music, taking pictures, and getting the general feel for the place.

 _This is the sort of town_ , she thought, _you'd never come visit unless you knew someone that was already here_.

The next morning they both slept late. Eventually, Bella got up and got ready to go see Edward. He was picking her up. When she got out of the shower, Ari was waking up, stretching and yawning she bid her friend good morning. She jumped in the shower after she was a little more awake, and Bella had said good bye. She had the whole house for herself.

When she went downstairs, she found coffee made and a note next to the toaster that read, "Help yourself to some toast," written in what looked like Charlie's handwriting. Ari had met Charlie a few days back, he seemed slightly uncomfortable with having another teenage girl under his roof, but totally nice and cool about it. They hadn't really interacted much, which was good, since it would probably be awkward. Those sort of situations are always at least a little awkward, no matter what.

She decided to stay in that day, she liked having the house to herself. She smoked a cigarette with her coffee in the backyard. When she finished, she put some toast, pour herself another cup of coffee and sat down in the couch with her laptop. She decided that if this was the way the summer was going to go, she had to make some plans. So, she put some music and looked for the map of the town, and checked the distances between the house and the town, Port Angels and La Push, the three places Bella had mentioned. She found tons of stuff, the National Park, a lake, an army tank, and bunch of bars, cafés and museums.

She made a list of all the places she was interested in visiting and marked them in her map. She was going to spend three months here so she could take her time. Besides, she knew that even though Bella needed some alone time with her boyfriend, she would take her out, introduce her to her friends and maybe even to the Cullens. So maybe eventually, she could hang with some of her friends without her. She wondered if Edward or Alice had any thoughts about her.

* * *

"So that's Ari, huh?" Edward ventured.

"Yep," answered Bella, "What did you think of her?"

"She seems really nice."

"That's all?"

Edward just nodded with an amused smile.

"You know, boys love her."

"I can see why, she's very straightforward."

Bella just stared at her hands.

"Bella… You know I only have eyes for you, it's you who I want, no one else."

Bella looked up at Edward with apprehensive eyes. Edward looked back at her and cupped her face in one of he's hands.

"She's not you." Edward comforted her.

Bella nodded, feeling less troubled about the whole thing.

"Did Alice see her coming?"

"No, she hadn't, but as soon as she saw her, she could see the whole summer going by without a hitch."

"That's comforting. You know, now that I see her I think I missed her more than I thought."

"Maybe we can invite her to dinner one of these days."

"Really? You sure?" Bella got uncomfortable.

"Why not? If she's important to you, she's important to me and my family."

"You think your family would be ok with that?"

"Bella, of course."

Bella smiled, "Thanks." Edward looked at her gave her a soft and quick kiss.

* * *

After a while, Ari got up and decided to take a long hot shower. She took her time and washed her hair. After that, she dried herself off and went to her room to get dressed. All of her stuff was still in her suit case, she wasn't going to unpack just to pack again a week later. She put on some jeans and a white tank top with a black sheer lace long sleeve blouse over it.

Once she was ready, she went downstairs again, and got her laptop again. She had forgotten to look up the place of the concert. She definitely need to stop by there and check that the gig was still going down. She was checking her email when there was a knock on the door.

"Hmm," she exhaled as she placed the laptop on the coffee table and got up to answer the door.

She opened the door to find a tanned teenager with long black hair wearing some baggy jeans and a black sweatshirt. As she opened the door, she could see that the boy had a goofy smile just before it phased into a confused face.

"May I help you?" Ari said after a few moments of silence. She looked straight into his eyes with a slightly less confused look but with a lot more intimidation.

The guy tried to recollect himself, "Uh… Is… Bella here?"

"No, she's out, would you like me tell her you stopped by?" Her eyes had less tension than before but her voice was still as demanding.

"Uh… I'm sorry, _who_ are you?" The boy asked, with the same level of confusion but with a little more curiosity and cheerfulness.

"I'm Ari, and you are?"

"Jacob," he smiled at her and held his hand out to her. "Nice to meet you."

She reached out to shake his hand, playfully bemused. "You too, Bella may have told me a little about you. It's nice to put a face to the name."

"Oh," Jacob raised an eyebrow, "I hope it was good things," and let out an embarrassed chuckle.

"Just… things," She shook her head slowly, "childhood friend, lives in the Reservation… Not much else." She shrugged, her eyes at ease still looking directly at him.

"I see, so how do you know Bella? She didn't really mentioned you." You could sense the curiosity in his tone.

"Figures…" she rolled her eyes, "We're best friends, back in Arizona, anyway. I hadn't seen her since she left, so I came to visit her for the summer."

"Nice," Jacob answered with the same goofy smile that he had just before she opened the door.

"I'm sorry, did you want to come in or something?" She realized they had just been standing in the doorway.

"Oh, no, it's fine, I should get going." He took a few step back, "So, I'll see you around?"

"Yeah, sure," she said unconcerned.

"Could you tell Bella I stopped by?" he said just as he reached the street.

"You bet," Ari replied, loud enough so he could hear.

She closed the door and smiled at herself. _Cute_ , she thought to herself.

She returned to what she was doing, A few hours later, Charlie arrived at the house and they exchanged a few words between them. It wasn't long before Bella showed up.

After they ate, the girls went upstairs to get ready for bed.

"Oh, Bella, I forgot to tell you," Ari started while Bella looked up at her, "Jacob stopped by."

Bella directed her gaze back to her pajamas she was unfolding. "Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah, you didn't tell me he was such an eye candy," laughed Ari and continued, "a little awkward, but really what fifteen year old isn't?"

Bella half smiled, "He's 16, actually, and I guess I just didn't notice it."

"Of course not, you have a model around your arm," she boasted.

"So, what? You like him?" Bella asked with a slight edge in her voice.

Ari scoffed, "Eh, nah, you know I like my boys a little older. I was just saying."

Bella looked back at her and raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sure there's plenty more eye candy around here," Ari joked, "But what, do you like him?"

It was Bella's turn to scoff, "I have Edward, remember? I just think he's a nice guy, very sweet, in a little brother kind of way."

"Right…" Ari rolled her eyes, "So you wouldn't mind if I call him one of these days?"

"What? You got his number?" Bella's eyes were surprised with the same slight edge.

Ari laughed, "No, I just wanted to see your reaction."

Bella softened, "I mean, if you wanted I guess you could."

"Nah, it's fine, as long as you don't ditch me too much, otherwise I might have to consider it."


	2. Chapter 2 First Week

The first week in the new town. Bella had showed the small town of Forks to Ari in a matter of… minutes, there really wasn't much to do. She did help her put some posters up for her show around some light posts. At night they went to dinner with Bella's friends. She met Angela, Jessica, Mike, Erick, Tyler and Lauren.

Angela and Erik seemed like a couple and Jessica and Mike sort of. They all were trying to be nice, and very welcoming with her.

"I can't believe you're spending the whole summer here. It's actually kinda cool to meet someone from Bella's passed," Jessica announced, giving a glance to Bella, "She doesn't really talk about Arizona much."

Bella gave a slight huff and looked at her drink while stirring the straw.

"So, how do you like Forks so far?" Mike stepped in.

"It's nice, I guess. I do admit, I don't think I would have ever come here if it was to visit Bella."

"Most tourists are from Seattle, they come to see the National Park." Mike answered.

"Oh, I totally want to go there, have you been, Bella?" Ari directed.

"Uhm… just around the area."

"Maybe we can go to the top of the mountain one of these days."

Everyone agreed and chatted about their experiences, brainstorming ideas for the trip.

"So, what have you seen so far, Ari?" Tyler smiled right towards Ari.

"Today we went around Forks, put some posters up. Which reminds me, do you guys like dancing? Like, party dancing?"

Mike was the first one that got excited, winning himself a scorned look from Jessica, "Yeah!"

Everyone else seemed somewhat excited to at least some extend.

"We're doing a show in about 3 weeks in Port Angels," she said sounding interesting as to draw their attention, "It's in the Coo Coo Nest, ever been?"

Angela turned sharply at me, "Don't you need to be 21 to go in?" Everyone had the same face of disappointment.

"I still have to go there myself and talk to the manager, but I'm pretty sure it's an all ages sort of thing. I mean, I'm not 21 either."

They looked a little more relieved, "Well, I'm definitely in, then," appointed Tyler excitedly, and everyone else seemed to follow.

* * *

The next day, Bella took Ari apartment hoping in Forks. The options were a little scarce. They had to go to Port Angels to check the other options. They met up with Charlie in the dinner to discuss their findings.

"So, girls, how did the apartment hunting go?" Charlie looked up from his newspaper and to the girls who had just entered the door.

"It was ok," Ari answered as she grabbed the menu.

"He went all the way to Port Angels to see places, but none of them look that great," Bella sighed.

"I see. Well, I'm sure there was somewhere worthwhile," he cleared his throat.

"I think… the one I liked the most was the garage one," Ari mentioned.

"The one in Forks? That one didn't look too bad, you liked it?" questioned Bella.

"Yeah, small, cozy, view to the forest, close to you, not too expensive," answered Ari, "The places in Port Angels were nicer, but I feel like if get a place there I'll never get to see you!"

Bella smiled, "What are you talking about? We'll see each other anyway."

"Aww, you're sweet, but it's fine, I think I like Forks more."

"What can I get you ladies?" the waitress stepped in.

"Mmm..." began Ari.

"I'll take the grilled cheese with fries," Bella told her.

"I'll just have the BLT, thanks" Ari finished.

"So where is the place you liked?" Charlie asked.

"It's about 2 miles from your house, I think."

"You know you could stay as long as you want in my house, you're welcome to."

"Thanks a lot, Mr. Charlie, but I really don't want to impose," she had called him Mr. Swan and he had told for her to call him Charlie. She hadn't gotten used to it.

"Just Charlie is fine, Ari." He insisted.

"Sorry, Charlie," she smiled.

"So, dad, how was work?" inquired Bella.

"We had a minor robbery today, but we're working on some leads." Charlie answered.

"Cool," was Bella's only response.

"Here you go, girls," the waitress brought forward their plates.

"Thanks, Martha," Bella looked up.

"Thank you! I'm starving," Ari said with a big smile on her face.

"Are you going fishing this weekend, dad?" Bella asked.

"Yeah, Saturday with Billy."

"Oh… Charlie, do you think I could go with you guys, or would that be weird?" Ari requested.

"You want to go fishing?" Bella seemed confused.

"Well, I was looking up stuff to do here and fishing looked like a must do around here," she said.

Charlie appeared hesitant for a moment, but told her, "Sure, the more the merrier." He looked over at Bella, "You don't want to come, kiddo?"

Bella was chewing on her sandwich, "Uh… no, that's ok, I have plans with Edward anyway."

"Perfect!" Ari shrieked with glee, "You spend time with your man and I'll enjoy one of Fork's favorite pastimes." She look at Bella with a smile, which Bella returned with a chuckle and eye rolling. Charlie rolled his eyes, trying not to think about all the time Bella was spending with Edward.

* * *

The next day, Bella was going to go the Cullen's and spend the day there. Meanwhile, Ari went to recheck the apartment that she had liked. Since Edward always picked her up, Bella let Ari use her truck whenever she needed it.

The apartment was built over a garage of the house that was separated from it by a few feet. The couple who rented it out was an older couple who had told her they had built it for their son but that he was away in collage so they wanted to rent it out. It was organized more like a loft, it had a kitchen area with a pair of camping stoves, a microwave, coffee maker, and a fridge. It overlapped with the dining area that contained a small dining table with four chairs. At the end of the room was a double bed, and it was separated from the dining room only by a light fabric curtain. There was an actual bathroom with shower next to the front door. The kitchen had a window over the sink that over looked a big yard and the beginning of the forest, there was another window over the bed that gave view to the street. Bothe windows could open all the way.

The more she walked around, the more she loved it. _It's perfect_ , she thought. Soon afterwards, she went back downstairs and knock on the house's backdoor to sign the contract.

* * *

"How was your day with Edward?" Ari asked when she was getting ready for bed.

"It was nice. We hung out, listened to music." Bella stated without looked back at her.

"When are we doing something all together? I feel like I barely know anything about this guy that has you all star-crossed."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention it, you're invited for dinner next week. Any plans for Tuesday?" Bella turned around.

"Uh… yeah! I'm having dinner at the Cullen Mansion, of course!" she threw her arms with joy.

Bella laughed at her reaction. "I do have to warn you, they are… different:"

"Different how?" Ari asked intrigued.

"I don't know… they just are."

"Ok… what? Are they all super gothic or crazy religious or something like that?"

Bella chuckled a little, "No, no, they're super nice, you'll love them."

"Well, alright them, sound fun."

* * *

7 am alarm clock.

 _Ugh, when did I even think of going fishing_ , Ari thought, _this is an ungodly hour_. She heard Bella stir before shutting it off.

She slowly crawled out of bed. She walked to her suitcase and got out some jeans and went through her shirts. She picked out an AC/DC concert t-shirt, got some underwear and went into the shower across the hall. She got out a few minutes later and went back to the room. She tied her hair in a messy bun and picked up her coat, a black hoodie, before heading downstairs.

"So, you're really going?" she heard Charlie say from the kitchen.

"I had second thoughts as soon as the alarm went off but, alas, here I am." Ari still felt groggy.

She reached for a mug from the cupboard and started to pour herself some coffee.

"I thought you might back out," Charlie mused, "But I'm glad you pulled through. I'll let you finish your coffee and we'll take off."

"Sounds good," she was already feeling better just by the smell of the fresh coffee.

A little while later they left for the Reservation to pick up Billy. Ari enjoyed looking over the window and at the passing forest.

"You must be Ariadne," greeted Billy.

"I am," she stated with pride, "You must be Mr. Black" she added with a smile.

"Please, call me Billy," he turned to Charlie, "Aren't we lucky, Charlie, to have such a lovely lady as company today."

Charlie smiled, "Sure are, you ready?"

"Lead the way," Billy replied.

It was a little awkward for Ari at first. She had never gone fishing, but she knew it couldn't be too hard. They explained the ropes when they got to the lake. Afterwards, it was still somewhat uncomfortable, but they would have some conversation breaks. Billy asked her about school and what she was planning on doing after the summer ended. She told him that she needed to go back to start in her Engineering degree. Billy told her they belonged to the Quileute Tribe and that Jacob was his son. She asked them about life in Forks and the Reservation, and how they had become friends. It actually went a lot more smoothly that she had thought.

Around 4 in the afternoon they started heading back out. When they got to Billy's house, they all got out of Charlie's car.

"Would you like to have dinner in my house?" Billy looked towards Ari.

"I'd love to," she responded excitedly and without hesitation.

"Charlie?" he directed his gaze to Charlie.

"Billy, you know I can't resist your fish cooking skills," Charlie sighed with a chuckle.

"Come on in," Billy guided them inside.

"Jacob, you remember Ari, Bella's friend." He said when he noticed his son sitting in the couch.

Jacob quickly stood up, "How I could I forget?" he said towards her with a confident smile.

Billy and Charlie were already almost at the kitchen when she started, "Uh… have we met?" with some confusion.

Jacob's smile wiped off his face as quickly as he heard her words.

"I'm just kidding," she chuckled at him, shaking her head.

He laughed nervously, "Uh… so you went fishing?" He raised a curious eyebrow.

"Yeah, it was actually very nice. The lake's beautiful."

Jacob sat back down in the couch, making room and a gesture for her to seat. She followed.

"Did you catch anything?" he asked in the same tone.

"Did I catch anything?" she began with an insulted look, "Oh, let me tell you what I caught."

Jacob made an attentive expression.

"I caught… a whopping…" she let the suspense build while looking straight at him, "2… inch trout. I don't want to brag, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to win the Catch of the Year Award this year."

She seemed exaggeratedly excited about this and Jacob wanted to laugh but his confusion held him back.

She continued, "I think I have to start preparing my acceptance speech…"

She couldn't hold herself together and exploded into laughter.

"Seriously," she said as she calmed down a little, "it was a tiny little thing this big" describing it with her fingers.

Jacob finally got that she was joking and began to laugh.

"The worst part," she tried to keep from laughing, "was when your dad turned to me and he was like 'I didn't even know that there were fish that small in this lake.'" She let out the laugh she was holding in, Jacob laughing with her.

After a few moments, the both caught their breaths.

Jacob looked at her with a pleased yet somewhat perplexed expression, "Are you always this ridiculous?"

Ari looked away and chuckled to herself, "Just sometimes, I guess."

Billy and Charlie had heard them laughing and had a nice chuckle together as well.

Charlie's head popped up from the kitchen door, "Dinner's ready. Jacob, I take it you heard about Ari's big catch?"

Jacob and Ari both got up still smiling and dying out their laugh. They all sat in the kitchen table and had some conversation, mostly about the fishing trip they were arriving from. Ari served herself the smallest piece of fish, but was actively in the conversation.

When everyone finished, Billy suggested, "Jacob, why don't you show Ari around the garage?"

Jacob looked back at Ari, asking with his features if she wanted too.

"Yeah, sure," she answered around, not really sure she was answering Jacob's unsaid question, or Billy's suggestion, or even requesting Charlie's permission.

They went out the back, and she found out that their garage was like an actual car garage with mechanical parts and tools everywhere.

"This is… the garage," Jacob introduced putting is hands up.

"Nice," Ari answered looking around with a raised eyebrow.

"So, what exactly are you working on?" she asked while looking around, picking up parts and inspecting them.

"This is my baby, an 86' Volkswagen Rabbit," he told her with pride, "I've been wanting to rebuild it forever, but my dad didn't let me until Charlie bought the truck from us."

"Oh, Bella's truck? That was yours?"

"Yeah, I rebuild the engine myself."

"No wonder it actually runs, I've been driving it since Bella's always hitches a ride with Edward."

Jacob's smile fades as he hears Edward's name, and it doesn't go unnoticed by Ari.

"What was that? Do you know him?" She questioned curiously.

"Yeah…" he sighed as looks at the ground.

"Ok… what's the deal? Is he a bad guy?" Ari sounded concerned as she looked at him.

"Well… It's just," he faced her with a grim look in his face and sat down next to the toolbox, "people here don't like the Cullen's very much."

Ari sat next to him and arched her eyebrows in an anxious manner, "I'm supposed to have dinner with them on Tuesday… should I be worried?"

Jacob shook his head, "I don't… I don't think so," he said while trying to dismiss the matter, "I guess you'll see for yourself."

"I guess I will," Ari puzzled, still not convinced, "Bella did say they were different."

Jacob scoffed at this, "To say the least."

Ari laughed slightly and nervously, still looking concerned.

"Listen, I'm sure it'll be fine, but… If you see anything strange, you should talk to Bella about it, maybe she'll listen to you."

"What? Of course I will. I met him the other day, he seemed fine enough, and she seems happy with him, but if this guy's not good for her, I can't stay quiet about it. That's just what friends do for each other…" Ari ranted decisively.

Jacob's face soften, and then they heard Charlie's voice from a distance, "Ari, you ready to go?"

They both got up, "I guess we're leaving."

"Yeah, but listen, if you ever want to come by, you're more than welcome to." Jacob breaking out a smile.

"Thanks…" Ari was still a little shaken about their conversation, but tried to hide it with a faint smile as she said, "Maybe not for dinner, though, can I tell you a secret?"

"You didn't like my dad's cooking?" Jacob's smile turned into a little smirk.

"No, no, the cooking was fine… I just don't like fish," she laughed, "I didn't even think about it when your dad said dinner, but it was fine."

Jacob laughed, "Next time I'll make you something else."

"Don't worry about it, really, just don't tell your dad!" she said while still laughing a little and raising her eyebrows.

They walked towards Charlie's car and bid their farewells.

* * *

When they reached the house, Bella was already in. As she heard the door, she went downstairs to greet them.

"Hey, so how was the fishing trip?" Bella asked with an excited tone.

"It was great! I caught a little tiny trout, it was so cute, I almost named it." Ari answered as she hugged Bella.

"Yeah," Charlie snickered slightly, "I hope you had dinner, we ate at Billy's."

"Yeah, it's fine, I ate," Bella stated.

The girls went upstairs ready to go to bed.

"So, how was your day?" Ari asked Bella, intrigued now about the Cullen's hated status.

"It was ok," Bella looked at her unconcerned, "what about yours? Did you really like the whole fishing business?"

"I did, it was very relaxing," she replied in a convincing way.

Bella looked pleasantly surprised, "What about dinner? Did you eat fish?"

"Yeah," Ari seemed a little disgusted thinking about it, "I didn't want to be rude."

Bella laughed a little, "Was Jacob there, too?"

Ari looked at her, "Yeah… he showed me around his garage." And paused.

"Actually," she continued, "He told me that the Cullen's are no very liked around here." She stared worriedly at Bella waiting for a response.

Bella stiffened, not sure how to go about it, looking a little pissed about the comment, "Yeah, well, not everyone can be liked." She tried to shrug it off.

"I guess, it's just that…" she fretted with her clothes, "Should I be worried about you? Does he treat you right?" She asked looking straight at Bella's gaze with an obvious concerned look.

"A… don't worry about it, it's just some old Quileute stories, and yes, he treats me like a… like a princess." Bella looked back at her with a blushed face.

"Aww," Ari's face softened, "You know that you have my support, I just don't want you to get hurt."

"I know, but… it's fine." Bella spoke convincingly, "You'll see, they are all super nice."

Ari sighed, "Yeah, I'm sure." She relaxed and said, "Maybe Jacob is just jealous," raising an eyebrow at Bella.

Bella rolled her eyes and scoffed, but didn't say anything.


	3. Chapter 3 Dinner and the Beach

That Monday Ari was moving to her new place. Charlie drove her and Bella to drop Ari's stuff. Bella stuck around while Charlie drove off to work.

"So, what do you think?" Ari excitedly rose her hands and looked at Bella.

"It's pretty awesome, A," Bella answered as she looked around, "You sure you're going to be ok here all by yourself?"

Ari shrugged, "Yeah… I hope so, if I get scared I'm going to run back to your place."

Bella scoffed.

"Hey, maybe we can have a little party later with your friends," Ari said as she pulled out a bottle of Vodka from her bag, "What do you think?" Ari's eyes sparkled as she jiggled the bottle in front of Bella.

Bella's eyes widened, "Ari, where the hell did you get that?"

"Oh, Bellis, who do you think you're talking to?" Ari grinned mischievously, "Come on, Bella, it's summer! Live a little!"

Bella sighed heavily, she hadn't drank since a few days before she left Arizona. She only drank because Ari insisted on 'having fun.' It's not like she actually minded drinking, it's just that it wasn't her thing. Sure, she had fun, but she had fun without it, too. And even though she drank sometimes, at parties or get together and whatnot, she avoided getting drunk. The only two times that had happened it has obviously been with Ari, and nothing too bad happened, but she wanted to keep it that way.

"I guess," she bobbed her head, "I'll call the gang up."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Ari chirped as hugged her friend.

Ari unpacked most of her clothes and left with Bella to go shopping for some food. Bella helped her get organized and left for her house. A while later she called Ari to let her know she had talked to Jess and that they had arranged for the get together on Thursday.

* * *

The next day was the big dinner at the Cullen's house. Ari was a little nervous but excited, she had heard that Esme, Edward's mother was a great cook. Edward was going to pick up Bella and then they would drive by Ari's house.

"Bellaaaaaa, what should I wear?" Ari asked Bella over the phone.

" _What should you wear? I don't know…"_

"You're sooo helpful, I mean, like casual, like nice, like what? What are they expecting?"

" _Wear something nice, but casual, you know_ "

"If I knew, I wouldn't be calling… But yeah, I get it." Ari scoffed.

" _Anyway, Edward just told me he's leaving in house in 20 minutes, so be ready like in 45 minutes, tops."_

"Should I bring anything?"

" _No, don't worry about it."_

"I'm so nervous!"

" _Stop worrying, it's going to be fine."_

Ari pouted.

"Yeah, yeah, fine."

" _Alright, I'll see you later."_

Ari decided to where a black and white skirt with black tights and a green blouse. When she heard the honking outside her apartment, she grabbed her jacket and left quickly.

"Hey, you guys!" She greeted happily before getting in the back seat.

Bella turned to face her, "Hey, I'm glad you found something to wear," she commented smiling lightly at her.

"I considered not wearing anything at all, but I thought it might be a little inappropriate," she glanced out the window, as Edward chuckled looking over at Bella who had kept her smile on.

"So, Edward what are you up to? Do you plan on doing anything after you graduate?" Ari asked as to make conversation.

"I haven't really thought about it," he flashed a smirk at Bella, "I guess it all depends on what happens this next year."

"Of course, you have a whole year still to think about it," she sighed, "What about you, B, have you decided what you're going to mayor in?"

Ari knew that Bella had a college fund, but that she had no idea what to study.

"I don't know…" Bella didn't like to talk about it, "I'm not sure I'll even go to college at this point."

"Tsk, oh come on, are you serious?" She was surprised, after all that saving,

Ari thought about saying, _Maybe you guys can plan on going to the same college_ , but decided it was a little too early in their relationship to be thinking about that.

Edward seemed a little pleased with himself, as Bella threw him a questioning look.

"Well, what are your plans, then, Ariadne?"

"I'm going to start engineering next fall in Cali," she said dismissively.

They soon arrived at their destination. As soon as Ari got out of the car, she gasped at the beautiful property in front of her.

"Whoa," she awed.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Bella grinned at her.

"Fucking awesome is what it is," she exclaimed quietly.

"Come on in, Ariadne," Edward cued politely.

She snapped out of her amazement, to look at where he was leading, "Oh, Ari's fine by the way."

When she stepped inside, she was greeted by caramel haired woman, "Welcome to our home, Ariadne." She was standing next to a blond man.

"Thanks for having me," Ari's eyes shone with gratitude, "You must be Edward's parents." She said it as a statement but unsure of herself.

"Yes," answered the man, "I'm Carlisle Cullen, and this is my wife, Esme."

"It's wonderful to meet you both," she bowed her head. She wanted to hug them but thought that was a little too personal.

"You have a beautiful house," she smiled.

"Thank you, please come in, make yourself at home,"

They walked through the hallway, followed by Edward and Bella and Ari kept up. Bella glanced back at Ari.

 _Oh my god, this is so awkward. Awkward. Awkward. Awkward. Just keep smiling._

They got to the leaving room where four more people sat, almost like posing for a family portrait. She recognized Alice as she walked towards her and gave her a hug.

 _Thank god, I needed a hug_ , Ari thought as she received the hug even though she also noticed that Alice was cold to the touch.

"Ari, it's great to see you again," Alice smiled cheerfully at her, "I'm so glad you here."

"It's so nice to see you too, Alice."

"Ariadne, this is Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie." Emmett stoop up and gave her a wave, while Jasper nodded gracefully. Rosalie gave her a forced smile, which made Ari feel somewhat uneasy for a slight moment. She noticed how everyone had the same shade of eyes.

"Oh, yeah, I think I saw you two in the parking lot my first day here." She pointed at Jasper and Emmett. Jasper had a stone face, with a very small smile plastered on.

"That's right," Emmett called out.

 _Awkward. Awkward. Awkward._

"Ari, we're going to have stakes for dinner, you're not vegetarian like Bella, are you?" Edward asked her.

"Oh, no, not at all." She chuckled.

"Esme made sure to have salad for you, Bella." Bella also seemed uneasy at the whole situation.

She nodded, "Thanks."

 _At least Bella is as awkward as ever, too_.

Carlisle spoke up, "Alright, shall we?"

Everyone shuffled to the dining table. It was set perfectly, a wine colored clothe covered the whole table, and a white smaller clothe covered the top. A bunch of forks and knives sat next to the plates and each seat had two glasses.

"Whoa," Ari glamoured over the perfection of everything in this house, including its inhabitants. One by one everyone took their seats, and Ariadne started to notice that Jasper and Alice were together as well as Emmett and Rosalie.

"So, Ariadne-" Esme started.

"Ari's just fine," Ari smiled nervously.

"Ari, Bella tells us you graduated early."

"Yeah, they let me do the last two years at the same time." She looked around.

"Are you going to start collage soon?" Carlisle said from the head of the table.

"I'm going to Berkley in California next fall."

Carlisle seemed impressed, "That's a very good school."

"Yeah, I'm very happy about it." She said as she nodded.

Esme got up from her seat to start setting the food on the table.

"Do you need any help?" Ari squeaked when she noticed nobody else moved. Everyone was looking at her and not saying anything. She knew she was the one that had to make this night work out.

"No, don't worry about it. Thanks, Ari." She yelled from the kitchen.

"So, I heard you guys are from Alaska." Ari started to feel a little more comfortable, maybe because all her uncomfortableness had been used up.

Emmett was the first one to speak up, sounding interested "Yeah, have you ever been?"

"Unfortunately not, is it as wintery as I picture it in my mind?"

Emmett chuckled, "Only in the winter."

"We moved back a couple years ago," pitched Alice.

Edward shifted in his seat, exchanging glances with Alice. He had noticed that Alice said moved back, but Ari didn't really pick up on it.

"That's cool, why did you move back?"

"Work, mostly," Carlisle responded.

Esme brought back some plates from the kitchen. It was a huge salad bowl full of salad, and the next dish was a grill full of stakes and potatoes.

"Whoa, Mrs. Cullens, those smell delicious." Ari glowed at the banquet in front of her.

"Oh, call me Esme, please." Esme smiled at her. She was standing over the food and prompted Ari to give her plate. Once she served Ari, she kept going with the rest of the plates. She left again to grab a bottle of wine a bottle of soda.

Ari waited until everyone had their food in front of them, but nobody started eating. Bella noticed this and took a forkful of salad into her mouth. Ari took it as a cue to start eating, too.

"Esme, the salad is great," she said as soon as she swallowed.

"She's right, this is divine." Ari followed. The salad had this ginger mustard dressing that made the whole thing melt in your mouth.

"I'm glad you girls liked it."

Ari kept eating her food happily, she was hungry. She noticed, though, that no one was as excited as her.

"So, ugh, did you guys build this house, or did you buy it?" Ari asked curiously.

"We got it built a few years back," Carlisle answered.

"It's a great house, if I ever build my own someday I'll have to take some of your ideas."

Ari tried her best to be polite and conversational. She always had prepared some easy going questions, "How did you and Esme meet?" for example, "Emmett, you surely play football, right?" "Alice, I love your style, you think you can recommend me some stores in Forks?" "Rosalie, you have any favorites yourself?" "Jasper, do you like poetry? You look like a poetry kinda guy." She went around making sure to get everyone involved in at least some of the conversation. Bella and Edward helped her as much as they could to move along the night.

Bella was thankful that her friend had great people skills. She had obviously been worried about the evening even though she tried her best to be confident about it. She knew that Ari would pull through the awkwardness, if it had been any other person, she wasn't really sure that she would have brought them. Ari was a lot more easygoing than her, carefree, unfazed by the weirdness that surrounded her.

The night rode on, the meal ended, and Esme had offered coffee or tea. Ari accepted the tea, and they moved on the living room. Edward offered her a tour of the house and she obliged. Soon, it got late and Edward drove both the girls home.

As soon as Ari got in the car, she exhaled deeply, "Well, I think that could've gone a lot worse."

Edward snickered giving Bella a glance, which she returned with a mysterious smile.

"You have no idea, A," Bella told her making her smile more like a smirk.

"I'm beat, but damn that stake was delicious." Ari sank herself in the car's back seat.

"I think it was a wonderful evening." Edward affirmed with a satisfied look flashing a smile at Bella.

 _Man, these two…_

* * *

Ari was glad that, with everything she had planned to do in Forks so far, she had at least a day in between activities. Tuesday had been the dinner at the Cullen's and Wednesday was her "day off," while Thursday Bella's friends were supposed to come to her little housewarming party. That is until Bella called her around 7 p.m. on Wednesday night.

" _Hey, Ari, how's your day?_ "

"It's chill, I've been tiding up for tomorrow."

" _Yeah… about that…_ "

"Bella? Is it bad?"

" _Well… Everyone's bailing._ "

"Ugh… Of course they are."

" _Yeah, but they said that Saturday they're going to the beach, La Push, baby."_

Ari laughed out loud, "La Push, baby? Seriously, Bella?"

Bella shrugged on the other side of the phone with a smile, " _I don't know, it's an Erick thing._ "

"Well, the beach sounds great, you think they won't bail on that too?"

" _Nah"_

 _"_ Oh well," Ari sighed.

 _"I'm sorry… You want to hang out instead?_ "

"You're not bailing on me?"

" _I'd never do that to you._ "

"I love you! Movies at your place?"

" _Bring the popcorn._ "

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow."

* * *

Ari slept over at Bella's on Friday, since they were going to the beach the next day. So they had some dinner and watched a movie and went to bed. The next day rolled on, and it was the best weather anyone going to the beach could ask for.

Bella packed a backpack and wore some jean shorts and a black shirt, while Ari wore some white shorts and a polka dotted white and black halter top, almost showing her belly button. They made their way to First Beach, were they were meeting up with Bella's friends. They stopped at a small supermarket to get provisions for the day.

When they got to the Beach, Jessica, Angela and Erick were already there. Taylor's van was there two, but there was no sign of him.

"Hey," Jessica called the girls, waving at them. She was wearing some shorts and a bikini top. Angela and Erick were sitting over a big towel facing the ocean, close to the van.

"Hi!" Ari answered when she was near, "How are you guys?"

"I'm sorry we couldn't go on Thursday to see your new place" Erick said as he looked up at her. Bella placed the bag that contained chips and candy and beer that Ari had bought.

"It's ok, I'm just happy I finally got to come to the beach!" She was cheerful as could be. The ocean scent hit her nose and made her heart jump with emotion. She pulled out two beers and gave one to Bella. "Do you guys want one?" Ari asked the others.

"Uh, no… thanks," Jessica seemed taken aback by the offer. Angela and Erick rejected politely as well.

 _I see how it is_.

"So this is La Push, huh?" Ari stared out to the ocean.

"La Push, baby" emphasized Erick.

Ari chuckled and smiled at the ongoing joke.

Bella sat down on the van. Taking a tiny sip of the beer and placing it behind her, reaching for the bag and taking out some candy.

"So where are Taylor and Mike?" She asked while munching on her Twizzlers.

"Oh, they went to get some food, I think." Squeaked Jessica, looking back at Bella.

Ari sat next to Bella, "We need some music here, don't you think?"

"On it," Jessica picked up her iPod and connected it to the traveler speakers and put on a song ( _Worth it – Fifth Harmony_ ).

"That's hot," Ari interjected as she got up and started dancing like she didn't care who was watching.

Jessica smiled fretfully. She liked and didn't like Ari. She liked her because she was a fun girl, but she was envious of that too.

"You guys don't dance?" Ari looked over at everyone consecutively.

"I do, I'm just not good at it." Giggle Jessica.

Angela waved her arms in the air to the beat of the song, while Erick made some ridiculous dancing moving still in his seat.

"What? Anybody can be good at dancing!" Ari looked at Jessica and then glanced at Bella, "Well, almost anyone." She giggled a little, while Bella just rolled her eyes and smiled at her, "I'm just teasing, B."

"Come on, Jess, it's easy. Just let the beat take over." Ari went back to moving her hips and raising her arms to the song.

"I just don't know you do that," Jessica looked back at the ocean in front of her, starting to feel uncomfortable.

"Here, I'll show you," Ari held a hand to Jessica to help her stand. Jessica complied and brushed herself off. Ari could tell that she wanted to dance, to have fun but embarrassment held her back.

"Ok, so, basically you do whatever you feel like doing," she instructed as she held her hands on her hips and swayed them side to side, "Let your body loose and just go with whatever the music leads you."

Jessica tried to imitate what Ari was doing, laughing nervously.

"Don't be afraid of looking like an idiot, it's all about having fun." Ari kept instructing. The others just watched the girls and hardly held in their amusement.

The song finished and both girls panted some.

"You see, that wasn't so bad!" Ari reassured her.

"I guess not," Jessica smiled but clearly seemed flushed.

Next song started playing ( _Hey mama – David Guetta ft._ _Nicki Minaj, Bebe Rexha & Afrojack_).

"Oh, this is the hottest song." Ari said smoothly as started her dancing again.

"Here, I'll show you the best dance move, it's right in the bridge, they go like this." Ari showed her and watch Jessica as she tried it herself.

"You got it, are you ready? It's coming up." Ari sang the words.

The bridge was next and the girls did the move, it consisted of getting low and bouncing your bottom from side to side, closing your knees and then slowing moving up. Sexy. Ari sang the lyrics and kept dancing to the beat of the verse.

Jacob and two other boys showed up unexpectedly next to the van. Ari hadn't seen them, but Jessica did and turned beet red and started laughing maniacally in embarrassment. Ari twisted in her dancing and figured out why Jessica had turned red.

"Keep dancing, Jess, don't mind them." Ari grabbed Jessica's hands and tried to keep her from stopping.

"Are you ready for the move? It's coming up again." She instructed, giving Jess some sort of assurance of what she was doing.

The boys stared wide eyed at the show, and Bella squatted Jacob's arm as to break his trance. He looked at her smiling devilish, enjoying the exotic sight.

Jessica fell apart after that, she was too embarrassed.

"Come on, Jess," Ari stopped for an instant, catching her breath.

That is, until one of the boys that came with Jacob took a plunge and danced behind her, grabbing her waist. He pulled her closer and she kept dancing unfazed at the boy's confidence. At the chorus, she spun around slowly and sensually, with her hands up and then placing them lightly on the boy's shoulder. She didn't look up at him, instead, she kept her gaze down and her head facing to the side. The other boy gave a teasing yell. And Jacob's opened-mouth smile faded.

Even though she had played it cool, this was obviously embarrassing for her. The guy spun her around again, and the song finished with her grinding subtly while arching her back forward, twerking, if you will.

The song finished and they parted, Ari's face was pink, partly because of the dancing and partly because it was dirty dancing with an unexpected guest.

She sighed sharply, "That was hot." She turned to Jess, "See, Jess, it's all about confidence."

She looked over at Jacob who was clearly not happy with his friend, and had a scowl on his face. He was sitting next to Bella.

"Hey," she greeted him. His smile returned to his face, "Hi, Ari, you sure can dance." His voice was trembled and he blushed thinking how lame he must have sounded.

"I'm Quil," it was the boy who had danced with her. He had a grin from side to side, with a light tint of red on his cheeks.

"Hi, I'm Ari," she smirked at him, "What's your name?" She asked the other boy, who still looked a little dumbfounded. He tried to shake it off as she stared right at him.

"Embry," he responded simply, his eyes wide, startled.

"Embry, Quil, Quil Embry. Got it." Ari spoke as she went back and forth, remembering their names and faces.

"What are you guys doing here?" Bella asked looking at them.

"This is what we do, Bella, come to the beach and hang out," Jacob answered.

Ari reached for her beer, thirsty after all the dancing. The three boys looked surprise to see the drink.

"You guys want one?" She asked unimpressed.

They looked at each other and a smile crept in slowly across their faces.

"Yeah," they responded in unison excitedly.

"I mean, yeah, sure," Jacob was the first one to recover and shrugged it off like it was no big deal.

"How did you get beer?" Embry asked as she handed them each a beer.

"Oh, I have a fake I.D.," She shrugged, and then glared at Bella, "like any decent 18 year old."

Bella jingled her beer can in front of her, "You mean, soon to be. And yeah, like I need it with you around."

"That's the spirit!"

"You have a fake I.D.?" Jessica spoke surprised, she had gone basically unnoticed since she stopped dancing.

"Yeah, I got it last year. My name is Caroline Delgado," she said smugly as she pulled the said I.D. out of her purse and handed to her.

"But this is a picture of you."

"Let me see," Jacob reached for the card.

"Yeah, I got it made." Jacob passed it around his friends, finally Quil returned it to her.

"Alright!" He exclaimed before giving it back, "So you can get us drunk."

Ari snickered, "Yeah, how old are you?" She raised an eyebrow.

His smiled faded and looked serious, "I'm sixteen."

The boys laughed at his expression of being insulted, and Bella chuckled at the situation.

"Anyway, what are you boys doing next weekend?"

"Why?" Jacob asked.

"I'm doing a show in Port Angels, you totally have to come, all of you, and tell your friends." She pointed at the three of them.

"Awesome," blurted out Quil.

"What sort of show?" asked Embry.

"The show's called Party Hard, 'cause that's what it's about. We play this sort of music." She said, referring to another dance song that was playing from Jessica's iPod. "It's going to be absurd, I promise."

She pulled her hands up, "Lots of girls," she teased looking over at the boys, "And lots of guys," turning to Jessica.

"You guys are still coming, right?" She asked Angela and Erick.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Angela reassured.

"When's your band coming?" Bella asked her.

"They should be here on Wednesday, I think? I think they are driving here, so who knows."

"When is it?" Jacob asked her.

"Saturday, the place is called The Coo Coo's Nest."

"That place is sick," said Quil.

"Is it Bubblegum, I saw some posters in Forks." Embry spoke up.

"Yeah," Ari answered him excitedly, "That's it!"

"Did you check it out?" Bella asked her friend.

"Yeah, everything is set, and place looks super cool."

"Do you have your set ready? Is there going to be any pig's blood?"

Ari laughed, "No, we are not, we are doing _Monster_ , but there won't be any pig's blood this time, unfortunately."

"Pig's blood?" Jacob looked disgusted.

Ari chuckled at his expression, "Yeah, we have this song and it's about a monster that ate my heart, so we did this whole bit that I tore out my heart and ate it and there was blood, pig's blood all over. It was so sick, but absolutely awesome." She said the words while mimicking the actions.

"More sick than awesome, I'd say." Bella looked over at Jacob.

The boys seemed amused and a little sickened by the image.

The day flew by. The boys, Mike and Tylor, arrived a little later and Jacob and his friends left. They stayed out on the beach until it started to get dark.


	4. Chapter 4 Meet the Band

**Author's Note: First, I wanted to thank everyone who has been reading, reviewing, following and favoriting my story. It's awesome to find that people are reading and liking it.**

 **So this chapter is a little shorter than the others. The other one's I had already written, and I was planning on posting "Meet the Band" and the concert all in one, but I wanted to push forward the story so here's Ari's band.**

That Wednesday, Ari got a call from Aaron,

"Ace!" Ari basically screamed into her phone as she picked up.

" _Maze, how's it going?_ " a nasal voice was on the other end.

"Well, I'm fantastic, where are you?"

" _I think we're about to get to Port Angels, did you find us a place to stay?_ "

"Uh, yeah, I gave you the address."

" _Yeah… About that… Pepper lost it…_ "

"Of course he did, that's why I gave it to you!"

" _Yeah, well… we sorta had an incident._ "

"Do I even want to know? Anyway, it's almost in town, but not quite. I'll text it to you."

" _Awesome, will you meet us there?_ "

"Yeah, I'll see if Bella wants to go."

" _Yeah, bring Bella,_ " she heard from afar.

Ari chuckled, "Was that Luke?"

"Yep," Ace answered.

"Alright, I'll see you in a bit, I'm so excited!" Ari chirped.

"See you later, Maze," Ace chirped.

They hung up the phone and Ari quickly texted the address of the hostel her friends were going to stay at. She had asked them if they preferred to stay in Port Angels or closer to her, or even if closer to the beach. They all agreed that it be better to stay in Forks and travel around all together. She called Bella up to see if she could take her. Bella hadn't made any plans with Edward knowing that Ari's band was probably getting there on Wednesday.

Bella came by around half an hour later to pick her up and they went to the hostel that her friends were going to be. When they got there, they hadn't yet, but a few minutes later a large Jeep pulled up.

"Hey, girlies!" Ace called, pulling over.

Ace was the bassist of the band, and also helped a lot with lyrics of all the songs, making arrangements on vocals and sound. He was the oldest of the group at 24. He was a tall, buff and handsome guy, with dark brown short haircut.

In the car and getting out were the rest of the boys: Pepper was a light brown skinned skinny boy, age 19. He sported short brown curls. He played the guitar. He was gay, and a stoner, like Luke. Luke a 20 year old who was always high as a kite, he had dirty blond hair that was long enough to cover his ears. Luke was responsible of percussion. Lastly, John was your typical ladies' man, at 24 years as well. He was black and had a short afro. He would sometimes do the boy vocals on songs that called for it, but mostly he was the mixer/producer, making everything sound perfect.

They all got out of the car and one by one greeted with a great hug Ari and Bella.

"Man, I missed you guys so much, why couldn't your dad live like… closer?" Luke mumbled looking over at Bella.

She just shrugged, "It's a long way, but it's cool here."

"So, where are the girls?" Ari asked, and as she finished the words, a Sedan pulls up.

"Heeeey," was called from a blond whose body was half way out the back window.

"Nina!"

"There they are," Ace smugly said.

The girls consisted of Nina, a pale tall 19 year old girl with straight blond angelic hair that reached half her back. Her eyes were sky blue, with light freckles spread all over her nose and she had the air of a 1960's hippie all around her. She was cheerful and dark all wrapped in a nice little package. The driver, Jasmine (Jazz), was a bronze skinned girl, whose eyes were green with flashes of yellow around the iris. She was 23 and had medium length frizzed curls and wore tons of bracelets and necklaces. Both of them were singers of the band along with Ari. Finally, Christina was 18 like Ari, and her place was on the keyboards, and although she dressed in mostly dark clothes, she wasn't as dark as she let on. Her hair was black and short at the back, with a longer pink side fringe that covered one of her eyes.

As they all greeted each other.

Bella wonders, "So, how was the trip?"

Nina turns to her with a little sparkle in her eyes, "It was fantastic, I love road trips, you know?" She looked up to the sky, "Just staring at the world pass by a little window. It's like having external eyes. Always going, always arriving, hellos and goodbyes to each city, to each town, every new person is just so interesting."

"We went through all of the California coast," Jazz explained, as they made their way to the hostel reception.

Luke placed an arm over Bella, which made her uncomfortable but unnoticeably since she always sort of looked like that, and sighed looking at the sky, "It's the constant motion, you know, going wherever the road takes you, not looking back, just forward."

"Like rivers" pitched Chris, "Flowing into the ocean, the ocean doesn't know what the river brings but accepts it none the less." She stared off into nothing, remembering the sea and its smell and its immensity.

"Now I wish I drove here with you, guys." Pouted Ari.

"Don't pout, we still have cross country road trip that we just have to do." Reassured Ace, standing near the receptionist.

"So, what was the incident that happened?" Ari asked him, curiously.

He laughed, "We got pulled over by the cops. Pepper freaked and threw a bunch of stuff over the window, including the address."

She glanced over at Pepper, who was texting or using his phone or something.

He looked up with a panicked expression, living the memory, "Dude, they were totally going to arrest us."

"They we just going to tell us that the roads were being fixed," Ace admitted, shaking his head slightly.

"When did you leave?" Bella asked him.

"On Monday," Jazz answered her.

"Whoa," was all Bella managed to come up with.

"Hey, hey, hey, so what are we doing tonight?" John's voice echoed with excitement as he walked up to the group. He had been on the phone outside until now.

"Well, I was thinking we could go somewhere around here, I think there's a bar like 3 blocks down." Ari told him.

"The Pirate Ship, yeah," Bella assured, glancing down.

"Sound cool," Nina sighed.

"Arrr, I've a fierce fire in my belly tellin' me to fill it up with lots o' rum," Luke made a scary pirate face.

The girls laughed,

Nina perked up, and crunching her nose she jokes, "You salty sea dog, I'ma drink so much rum that ol' Davy Jones gunna be prying the bottle outta my hand."

"Aye, aye, ya foul wench, we be plunderin' this town by the end of the night," continued Luke.

Ari got into it, too, "'Tis a fine day for bloodshed and plunderin' booty, ya scallywags."

"Your room is ready, sir." Called out the receptionist, amusing at the pirate speak and looking a little confused while doing so.

The new arrivals all left for their rooms. They would be staying at a 10-bed room. Bella and Ari stayed behind, waiting for them.

"It's weird, see them here, isn't it?" Ari told her friend.

"Yeah, I'd forgotten how… fun they are." She chuckled.

"Man, I missed them," Ari sighed.

Bella smiled at her, "How long are they staying?"

"Just until Tuesday, I think. I want to show them around, maybe go to the beach."

"Yeah, totally."

"We have to rehearse at the club tomorrow, I think it's going to be all day, probably. We haven't played since I left."

"Do you have any new songs?"

"Well, Ace and I have been fixing up a few tracks, but the setlist is already programmed."

The girls chatted for a bit more before the band began to appear at the lobby threshold.

"Alright, lead the way, girlies," Ace encouraged.

Bella looked at Ari, "I don't if I'll go."

"What? Why not?" Ari pleaded.

"Yeah, Bells, come with us!" Jazz told her.

"It's just that I don't think they'll let me in."

"Oh, Bellis, did you really think we wouldn't hold out for you, here." Nina reached in her purse and pulled out and ID card, "It's my sister's, you guys look alike."

Bella didn't see too happy, but she smiled none the less and agreed to go.

When they reached the bar, they all showed their IDs and there was absolutely no problem. They settled in a big table and piratesque music played. They all ordered a round of beers, even Bella, although it was her only one of the night, and soon enough they were joking and talking about a bunch of stuff.

Pepper, involved in the conversation and all, did pay a lot of attention to his phone.

"Peppeeeer, who ya texting, huh?" Ari teased.

He blushed, "It's James, I met him though my cousin."

"Is that the new man in your life?"

"I mean, we are just talking," He smiled sheepishly and embarrassed.

"Talking 24/7," peeped Jazz, nudging Pepper's side.

"Everyone is coupling up now," sighed Nina, she never had luck in love, "Bella, what about you boyfriend? Are we going to meet him?" Her voice was encouraging. Luke looked sad, he had always had a thing for Bella, but he already knew that she had met someone here.

Bella smiled awkwardly at the request, "Yeah, well, he's going to the show with me."

"Alright, we'll get to see just how drop dead gorgeous this guy really is." Jazz added mischievously.

And _Modest Mouse_ 's _Float On_ started playing.

"Oooh," Ace perked up, "I love this song." And he started singing it.

At the second verse, Luke joined him, and Nina knew a few lines too. The rest enjoyed the singing and joined at the chorus, except for Bella. Bella wasn't a singer at all.

The night kept on and they kept talking about a bunch of things. Although, it was mostly catching up with Ari. Everyone talked about what had been going on in their lives the past couple of weeks. Ace had met a cute girl but that was just it, he hadn't gotten her number and regretted it. John teased Ace about it, saying that there was no need for phone numbers, and he'll go with him to a club so he could meet another girl. Luke bought a new set of cymbals and was talking to this other guy about starting a band. Pepper told Ari how he had met James in the first place, with excruciating detail. Nina spoke about how her sister left to go see collages and ranted about her sister's dead beat boyfriend. Jazz commented on the fight she had with her 5 year boyfriend. Chris said there wasn't anything new in her life, except that she had watched a great whale documentary and started talking about whales.

Whenever a song they knew come up, they all stopped and sang along like jolly pirates. It was great fun and Ari hadn't been as happy in a long time.

There was a great synergy in the group. Each of them were so different yet converged in different matters. Music was a big one, but they had all a great appeal in other areas, as well, including sense of humor and support for each other. They had been friends for a long time. Chris and John were the ones that were the least close, though. John had been a longtime friend of Ace's, while Chris was brought in by Nina. In any case, writing music and putting on shows made everyone need to trust and work together. Sure they fought sometimes, but never too bad. Everyone had a place, a job to do, and adapted to changes. Most of them pitched song lyrics or sound ideas, while everybody else commented and molded the ideas, until the mix was well balanced.

They night wore on and even though the group was up for partying every day, they had just had a 3 day long road trip, so they called it a night around midnight. They walked to the hostel and Bella drove Ari to her house. Ari thanked Bella for going with her and gave her friend a good night hug.


End file.
